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Posted this in the reloading forum but thought it may get some traction here as well. Anyone ever use the 165 grain 30 caliber cast bullet sold by Kings Shooter Supply? Looking to load some in the 30-30win and 30-40krag and need to figure out the BNH number of them. Box states that they are "super Hard Cast bullets". Only thing I can find on the website is that the pistol bullets are BNH of 21. If you have used them how fast did you run them and what powders did you use? Also are they an acceptable hunting bullet or just good for plinking?
Thanks,
CT

Don’t know anything about the brand, but BHN 21 is functionally equivalent to linotype and will shatter rather than mushroom.

On assumption the bullets are of proper dimension and shoot well they would be useful for targets, plinking or hunting with precision placement, meaning heart/brain or spine. Typical hardness for hunting bullets runs 6-15 BHN with general preference focused on 9-12 for smokeless powder.

Have you ever slugged the bore of your rifle?

Bullets of Bhn 21 are brittle enough to fragment as said above, if hard bullets don't fit the groove diameter they will lead as bad or worse than a too soft bullet. You really need to read some stickys on 'Cast Boolits' website, or get a copy of an older Lyman Cast Bullet Manual (the new one #50 is the worst one, should have been titled 'Mikey's World, by Mike'.
Shooting cast bullets can heartbreaking if you don't do your homework, rewarding in the extreme if you put a few hours of reading into it before you start.

300 Blackout, 1000fps, 230grn, 50 yds, 5 shots each, same gun, bench, shooter, everything, 15 minutes apart:

Not sure what it all means though!!!

BHN 9ish



BHN11, just ignore the .22 holes

Thanks for the replies, I will check out the mentioned resources and try and educate myself. Have not slugged the bore of either my 30-30 or the 30-40 Krag, but will try that if it is what needs done.
Thanks
CT

Don't bother slugging the bore. It won't tell you what you really need to know. Do a chamber cast to determine your throat diameter and have the bullet sized to match that or a half thousandths or so under (and obviously make the inside neck diameter of the case adapt to that). The whole idea is to cork the hot gasses behind the bullet from the start, not an inch or two up the bore after the bullet has bumped up to seal things. Gas cutting leads to leading and compromised accuracy and it won't matter if it's a hard or soft bullet. In fact a "hard cast bullet" is the biggest offender if sizing protocols aren't followed- it won't bump up until a lot farther along. This is why a lot of folks, me included, can get away with some kind of astonishing velocity/accuracy with bullets a whole lot softer than conventional wisdom would have us believe.

Doing whatever you can do to make the bullet start straight is the other biggie you have to address.

Re-read this. He knows of what he speaks.